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Draft:Fiona Perry

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Fiona Perry
Born
Education
OccupationsPoet,
Teacher
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
Notable awardsPoetry Book Awards (2021) Silver Medal

Fiona Perry is an Oxfordshire-based poet and writer of short fiction. She has authored two poetry collections, Alchemy (2020), which won the Poetry Book Awards Silver Medal, and The Chemistry of Emotion (2026), which she wrote with Stephen Paul Wren, both published by Turas Press.

Personal life

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Perry was born and brought up in Northern Ireland, and has lived in England, Australia, and New Zealand. She has degrees from Queen's University, Belfast and Lancaster University, and is currently a teacher, editor, and proofreader based in Oxfordshire.[1]

Perry has mentioned having "old family links" to Aotearoa, where her great-great grandparents lived at the time of the New Zealand Wars.[2]

Career

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Perry is the author of two poetry collections. Her second collection, The Chemistry of Emotion, was the result of a collaboration with the scientist and poet Stephen Paul Wren.[3][4] Perry's poetry has appeared in Lighthouse, Skylight47, Spontaneity, and Other Terrain.[5]

In June 2020, Perry's short fiction 'Sea Change' was awarded first prize in the 15th Bath Flash Fiction Award.[1][6]

Her debut, Alchemy, published in 2020, was well-received. It won the Poetry Book Awards Silver Medal in 2021,[5][7] and was shortlisted for the Rubery Prize.[8] Writing for Compulsive Reader, Beatriz Copello called the book "a literary adventure".[9] Nigel Kent praised Perry for looking at both birth and death "as transformational moments, as new beginnings", and for exploring "cultural connections".[10] Writing for The Blue Nib, John Bartlett noted her "wide-eyed realism" and praised the poems for linking us to "the concerns of the natural world and its creatures", calling Alchemy a "well-named collection" for its contents.[11] In an essay, Perry herself called it "a collection of poems that provide a glimpse into how life events, ancestry, nature, political landscape, and culture gradually alter or influence a person’s inner chemistry or 'break the heart open'."[2]

In 2021, Perry's poem "Fusion" was longlisted for Fish Publishing's poetry prize.[12]

Books

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  • The Chemistry of Emotion, with Stephen Paul Wren (Turas Press, 2026) ISBN 9781913598624
  • Alchemy (Turas Press, 2020) ISBN 9781913598129

Awards

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  • 2020: First prize, Bath Flash Fiction Award, for 'Sea Change'[1]
  • 2021: Poetry Book Awards Silver Medal[7]
  • 2021: Second prize, Over the Edge Fiction Slam[13]
  • 2021: Shortlisted, Rubery Prize, for Alchemy[3]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Fiona Perry June 2020 First Prize". Bath Flash Fiction Award. June 30, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Perry, Fiona (October 7, 2020). "Writing Poetry: Alchemy by Fiona Perry". Writing.ie. Inkwell Group. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Fevers of the Mind Poetry & Art 2025: #28 Fiona Perry". Fevers of the Mind. February 11, 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  4. ↑ "New Poetry: The Chemistry of Emotion by Fiona Perry and Stephen Paul Wren". RTE.ie. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. June 19, 2026. Retrieved September 12, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Fiona Perry's first collection Alchemy (Turas Press) has been shortlisted for the Poetry Book Awards 2021". Books Ireland. August 17, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  6. ↑ Higgins, Jude (June 30, 2020). "15th Award Round-Up". Bath Flash Fiction Award. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Winners 2021". Poetry Book Awards. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Book of the Year – 2021 / 2020 Winners". International Rubery Book Award. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Copello, Beatriz (December 24, 2020). "A review of Alchemy by Fiona Perry". Compulsive Reader. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  10. ↑ Kent, Nigel (January 16, 2021). "Review of 'Alchemy' by Fiona Perry". Nigel Kent – Poet and Reviewer. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ Bartlett, John (December 22, 2020). Lee, Emma (ed.). "John Bartlett reviews Fiona Perry's 'Alchemy'". The Blue Nib. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Poetry Prize 2021 Results, Long and Short-lists". Fish Publishing. May 15, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Fiona Perry's first collection Alchemy (Turas Press) has been shortlisted for the Poetry Book Awards 2021". Books Ireland. May 4, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
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